On Sunday, our family worshiped at a little chapel built in the late 1800's in the middle of Yosemite Valley. In spite of the thousands of people visiting the park on Sunday, there was only a handful of us in attendance at this Father's Day service. It made me think of my last sermon's consideration of how tempting it is, while we are on vacation, to let Sunday worship slide. But given the incomparable beauty of this place, the thought of missing out on the opportunity to join with God's people in singing praise to Him was inconceivable. However, in spite of the richness of this time of worship, I can wholeheartedly say that we were missing, and praying for, our body at Renton Bible Church.
Incomparable beauty goes a long way in describing Yosemite's towering waterfalls, massive granite walls and abundant wildlife (including a 5-point buck we were close enough to pet). I could not help but think of that great old chorus by Jack Hayford, "Majesty". For the majestic beauty of this slice of God's creation could not help but point me to the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:1-3).
It was also appropriate that, while in Yosemite, I completed the fourth book of my sabbatical, Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. Few books do as powerful a job of depicting the majesty of our Creator. However, it is quite evident that the message of God's majesty is just as needful today as it was when this theological masterpiece was written almost 40 years ago. Consider some of what Packer has to say:
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are - weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic. But this is not the God of the Bible! Our personal life is a finite thing: it is limited in every direction, in space, in time, in knowledge, in power. But God is not so limited. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He has us in His hands; but we never have Him in ours. Like us, He is personal; but unlike us, He is great. In all its constant stress on the reality of God's personal concern for His people, and on the gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, patience, and yearning compassion that He shows towards them, the Bible never lets us lose sight of His majesty, and His unlimited dominion over all His creatures.
I am thankful that the God of the Bible, our God, is a personal God. However, as Packer warns, we must never let this fact detract from an equally important truth-our God is an awesome God. What other conclusion can we make when confronted with the towering granite wall that is El Capitan or the rushing, thundering waterfall that is Yosemite Falls? Our God is an awesome God.
And yet, even more awe-inspiring than all of the wonders of Yosemite put together is this simple truth: the one who created all of these things and so much more is the same God who purchased our redemption through His crucifixion on a tree. And it is this thought that has captured my heart on this, the second week of my sabbatical. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1, NKJV)